


Unexpected

by Kayim



Series: Providence (Lost AU) [2]
Category: Lost
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-17
Updated: 2009-11-17
Packaged: 2017-10-03 05:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kayim/pseuds/Kayim





	Unexpected

_"One must never set up a murder. They must happen unexpectedly, as in life." -- Alfred Hitchcock._

*

"Hey cupcake, what you runnin' off for?"

Kate gave an involuntary shiver and pulled on her undergarments. Usually, the men who paid for her services didn't bother her too much, but there was something about this one that made her skin crawl. Colonel Wayne was an officer with the US Army stationed just outside of town. He'd been coming to Kate's cathouse since the time Diane was still alive. In fact, Wayne used to come especially to see Diane, often holing up with her in a room for hours at a time.

It was two months after Diane died that Kate fully discovered the horrors of what Wayne was doing to her all those times.

Diane's death affected all of the girls in the cathouse. She had been a good woman who did her best to be a mother to all of them. But it was Kate who felt the pain most. Her and Diane had been close -- close enough for the younger woman to think of Diane as her own flesh and blood -- and losing her was like losing her own parents all over again.

She looked over at him sitting in the bed. He was naked, with a bottle of rotgut whiskey in his hand. With his eyes fixed firmly on Kate, he took a drink from the bottle. Kate grimaced as she watched the cheap alcohol dribble out of his mouth and down onto his overweight stomach.

This was not the first time he had bought her -- she had become a favorite of his since Diane's death -- so she knew what was likely to happen if she didn't get out of the room quickly. He was one of those men who had a penchant for violence. In quieter moments, Kate wondered if it was connected to him being in the Army, but she usually decided that it was simply because Wayne was a nasty piece of work. Whenever he slept with one of the girls, one of two things would happen. He would either drink himself into a stupor and pass out, which was the preferable option. Or he would decide to use his fists a little.

He had killed Diane, the girls were all sure of that, but the Doc claimed that she was bleeding inside her. He couldn't tell what had caused the bleeding, but Kate suspected it was being slammed up against the wall a few too many times.

"Just leave the money with Joanna downstairs," she said to him, tugging her dress over her head.

"I hope ya aint planning on leavin' me now, sugar." He grabbed at her waist, pulling her towards him. With one of his larger hands holding her wrists tight above her head, he used the other one to rip the dress away. Kate found herself being pushed backwards, his sweaty, unwashed body pressing close to hers.

"You got what you paid for," she said, trying to hide the slight tremble in her voice. "Now you can just leave."

She cried out as her bare back hit the wooden dresser that stood in the corner of the room. She squirmed, trying to force him to release her hands, but that just seemed to excite him further. He brought his mouth down onto hers, hard enough to bruise her lips, and kissed her.

Still struggling to escape, she took the opportunity to bring up her knee, directly into his groin.

In agony, he backed away, bent double and clutching at what he believed to be his most treasured possessions. He looked up at her, a combination of lust and anger in his eyes and Kate knew that she had to do something. And fast.

She turned around, risking taking her eyes off Wayne for just a moment. The first thing on the dresser that caught her eye was a large bronze candlestick that the girls had bought her as a birthday present. Gripping it tightly, she spun back to face him, only intending to use the candlestick as a threat -- enough to keep him away from her.

But when he lunged at her, with a growl that sounded almost like an animal, she found herself swinging the heavy candlestick at him. It was difficult to tell who was more shocked -- Wayne as the metal hit him on the crown of his head, stopping him in his tracks, or Kate who let her arm drop to her side and the weapon drop to the floor.

There was a loud thud as Wayne collapsed on the care wooden floor, blood starting to pool beside him from the large cut on his head. Horrified, she knelt down next to him, tentatively stretching out her fingers to touch the blood. She shook Wayne's shoulder, hoping to hear a moan or groan from him. But there wasn't a sound.

"Kate? You okay in there?"

The damn Doc was outside the room. Jack Shephard was one of the few people in town who didn't look down on the girls in the cathouse, and often came over to stitch up cuts and offer medicine if any of them were sick.

She couldn't speak. She opened her mouth to reassure him that she was fine, but no words came out. She looked down at the probably-dead body on the floor and then looked up at the door. If she didn't say something, he would come in and she would get arrested. But if she said something, he would know from the quiver in her voice.

Sure enough, the door opened and he walked in.

He always dressed quite casually, not like a fancy city doctor, which is what he could have been if he'd wanted. His waistcoat was off today, the white shirt he always wore was open at the neck and a little creased. Sometimes one of the women in town would take pity on him and starch his shirts, but it looked like this one had been missed. Kate wondered about herself -- concentrating so much on what he was wearing when she was sitting on the floor next to a dead body.

Automatically, he rushed over to where Wayne lay, his fingers reaching for the side of his neck.

"Did he hit you again?" She still couldn't speak, but a quick nod answered his question easily enough without her having to speak the slight lie. He stood up and pulled Kate to him.

"He's dead," he told her, his voice gentle, unaccusing. He glanced around the room, taking in the disarray of the dresser, the bruises on Kate's wrists and the candlestick that still had traces of Wayne's blood on it.

"You were just protecting yourself." It was an instruction, rather than a question. "Get rid of the candlestick and tidy up in here. I'll go explain to Sheriff Reyes that Colonel Wayne suffered from a tragic heart attack."

She looked at him, stunned.

"But... but... I killed him," she said, her voice struggling to form the words. "I'll go to gaol."

Jack shook his head. The girls needed protection from monsters like Wayne and if the law couldn't do so, then he was going to do his best to make sure the girls didn't suffer if they had to look after themselves.

"No-one will see the body until after I've cleaned it up. No-one will know," he assured her. "Now, get yourself tidied up," he instructed.

As Kate dressed herself and began to pick up the messes around the room, Jack worked in silence, wrapping the body in a sheet from the bed. With some effort, he lifted the body and walked over to the door.

"Doc?"

He stopped and turned around. Kate came up to him and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I wont forget this."


End file.
